Top three trends shaping the workplace today, and the role of the channel
Customer Experience
Companies that already understand the value of a CX-first approach know that it requires a mindset of continuous improvement across the whole business. Ultimately, everyone in a business influences customer experience, even if they aren’t a designated touchpoint for the customer.
Maintaining a CX-focus will re-shape the workplace in almost every aspect. Customer service moves from agent-first to customer-first. Both strategic and tactical activity is driven as much by feedback and customer data as it is the bottom of the line with cross-functional teams now working collaboratively where management conduits once stood.
For all these changes to provide incremental value, they need to be underpinned by insight and understanding. Channel partners have a key role to play here as they can act as enablers, providing the means to marry up the data from different systems and provide guidance on the actionable insights that result.
Whether they do this by delivering analytics systems that report deeply from the phone system, or by connecting internal systems such as CRMs to provide context, the channel is best placed to deliver the digital transformation needed to make a CX-focus realistic – especially for the mid-market and SME, where there is rarely a “CX leader” within the business.
Remote Working
Remote working is a massive enabler for businesses. It enables them to source the best talent without logistical restriction, create teams that can service customers in multiple time zones, or simply offer greater flexibility in order to attract quality candidates. It is changing the shape of the workplace dramatically, and extending the ability for companies to complete on a global stage.
For partners, enabling remote working with quality collaboration tools is only half the opportunity. Managing teams, understanding overall business and departmental performance, and KPIs, is a challenge for the mid-market. This means that the channel can provide unparalleled advice on this, showing how using tools such as analytics and call recording can make operations smooth and high performing, no matter whether teams members are in the office all, some, or none of the time.
The Cloud
The way that businesses expect to purchase and use solutions is changing. they want simplicity, self-sufficiency and ease of use. The cloud facilitates accessibility of data to remote teams anywhere in the world. Departments can select the tools that suit them, test them, and deploy them – often without ever needing to consult their IT department, or wider management. That means that sales cycles are often shorter, and decision making becomes more agile. Departmental leaders have the freedom to make real change, quickly – so it’s another great enabler for increased competitiveness.
The channel already knows that a consultative sell is as essential, and the cloud removes many of the barriers to adoption. Not only does it de-risk purchasing decisions, but it can often provide the means to try before buying. Therefore, it’s important that partners can add value in a self-service economy, and we are seeing that cloud-based analytics and call recording solutions are an easy way for resellers to add value.